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Gai Nagareboshi/Tropes
A list of tropes pertaining to the protagonist of Bleach: Rising Phoenix, Gai Nagareboshi. Tropes associated with Gai in Rising Phoenix A-G *A Boy and His X: A Boy and His Crazy Awesome Troll Heroic Sociopath Eldtrich Abomination. *The Ace: Many others see Gai as this. Let's see; he's an exceptional Badass who's been acknowledged by the Soul King himself as having the talent to surpass him, he's one of the most compassionate and kind-hearted characters in the series; Gai's also able to befriend even sociopaths and Eldritch Abominations and turn nearly everyone over to the side of good, he's respected even by the three strongest characters in the series- not to mention, he's extremely successful with women and men. However... **Broken Ace: He's intelligent, powerful, attractive, everyone loves him...And he hates himself for what happened in his backstory and is prone to beating himself up. He gets better, though. *Adorkable: At times. Best evidenced by his interactions with Hizashi and Mitsuru. *All Guys Want Sorority Women: Played for laughs, but seriously, it's a wonder why he puts up with Nika. *All Your Powers Combined: His, Ateishi Setsura: Kūkūten Tenshitō Kōshinhōō. That is all. *Almighty Janitor/Overshadowed by Awesome: Despite his power and his track record of defeating even the most godmodded enemies, Gai gets zero respect. Then again, he's not being compared to normal Shinigami most of the time. *Always Save the Girl: Well let's name a few. Gekkou, Hizashi, Yuuki, Kurenai, Nika, Terios (almost), Lisette, Outou, etc. No wonder he's got an Unwanted Harem. *A Man Is Not a Virgin: Gai has sex with Mitsuru mid-Rising Phoenix. *Ambiguous Disorder: There is something off about Gai's social skills from the start of Rising Phoenix, and they have nothing to do with his later bout of PTSD. This is best seen in Part I, where he makes a carelessly cold remark about Haruko and is reprimanded for it, he can only think about his own feelings that were hurt, rather than feeling bad about what he said. He also has trouble with making eye contact with other people. On top of this, Gai can't avoid hitting the Berserk Buttons of his friends when he really should know better; especially Yuuki's, which leads to an unfortunate incident early on. *Animal Motifs: The Phoenix. *Attractive Bent Gender: Eyup. *Anti Anti Christ: Gai was originally intended by Seikyo to be the 'Destroyer of Worlds' that would destroy civilization. He instead becomes one of mankind's greatest defenders, and, ultimately and ironically, the one who brought true peace to the world. Masato later represents what Seikyo fully envisioned Gai to be. *Anti Hero: Type III. While kind to his loved ones, he's damn near lacking empathy in regards to anyone else. Not to mention, he is somewhat snarky and ruthless when fighting. Occasionally lapses into Type V, as he usually does what he wants regardless of consequences. Lampshaded by Nika. "If I wanted someone who was brave, fearless, intelligent, selfless, messanic, and an excellent leader, I would've asked you, Mitsuru Inazuma~ I ain't payin for another hero, so Gai Nagareboshi will have to do~" **Nineties Anti-Hero: Gai is basically this. Gai is a fully grown adult, unlike the standard Kid Hero, has few, if any, redeeming qualities beyond his protectiveness towards his few friends, instead of an idiot hero with slight blood knight attributes, he's a bloodthirsty maniac who you could very well imagine would commit genocide and kill thousands of people if he had the power to do so and not feel a pang of guilt over it, and seems to have very little in the terms of goals beyond 'kill everyone who pisses me off and glower at everyone else'. ***The Hero: Becomes a more genuine hero after his final battle with Chira, beginning to atone for his more dickish actions as an Anti-Hero, though his personality still remains, amplifying his tsundereness. *A Sinister Clue: A rare Anti-Heroic example who doesn't fall under The Southpaw. He swings his sword with his left hand, and his non-weapon powers tend to manifest through his left, to the point that he can transform his left hand into a gigantic claw. *Author Avatar: No surprises here. *Awesomeness by Analysis: Gai's fighting style is completely self taught. This doesn't stop him from being one of the most powerful (but not skilled) fighters in Rising Phoenix, with relatively little practice. Kazuma's soul merging with Gai's own in the climax of Part II, contributed to his growth in skill. Contrasting Gai is pretty much everyone else, who had subjected themselves to Training From Hell dozens of times, while Gai just wings it the entire time, this is more impressive. This is even more impressive when you realize that Gai still doesn't actually know the full potential of Kōshinhōō, mostly using it as a simple melee weapon and only really knowing how to utilize a Sword Beam. *Baby Got Back: Becomes glaringly obvious from Part II onwards. *Back from the Dead: In Part III. Also doubles as an epic He's Back moment. *'Badass': Naturally. Even when depowered, Gai's the physical embodiment of awesome in Rising Phoenix. **Badass Abnormal: Gai's psychic powers don't really start to develop until late in Rising Phoenix—as a contrast to every other psychic. By then, he's already proven his chops as an One Man Army, and they're just a nice little bonus. However, this makes him a rather weak psychic, as contrast to every other one introduced. **Badass Adorable: See Moe and Adorkable. **Badass Boast: On occasions. **Badass Bookworm: Gai completed his father's Infinity Plus One Sword design, thus building the G-Exes. He also didn't intend to use it, but did and ended up being the very first to beat a Tenjōgekido as well as destroying every single foe in his path, and in Sealed Scarlet, Corrupt Black, he may be the temporary Captain-Commander but his room is still filled with books. **Badass Longhair: From Part II onwards. **Badass Longcoat: In Kōshinhōō's Bankai. **Badass Normal: For Seishin standards, at least. Most of his powers are partially sealed, other than Mega Manning; he just relies on his fists to take his foes to town. **Sealed Badass in a Can: In the prologue. **Underestimating Badassery: Most of his foes mock him due to his small and pretty figure, thinking that Gai is incredibly weak. How wrong they are. **Badass Transplant: In Part II, his missing left arm was replaced with an Artifact of Doom. Can YOU tell the difference? His enemies sure can. *Bad Liar: Gai's lies could only get more obvious if there was a green neon sign above his head reading "He's lying". *Beneath the Mask: You'd think that Gai is The Stoic most of the time, right? Well, dig a little deeper, and you'll see that he's a Shrinking Violet. *Berserk Button: Harming Hizashi. Or any of his loved ones, for that matter. On a more comical note, forcing him to cross-dress. Also, don't hurt innocent people, or he will beat you down. But if you do, make sure you do it somewhere he can't see it, because if he does he won't just knock you out, he will beat the everloving shit out of you. Just ask Masato, who tried to strangle Nika. *Bi The Way: Of course. What gender he prefers tends to change on a whim. **Anything That Moves: When he's drunk. *Big Damn Heroes: In his He's Back moment. Words cannot describe the epicness. *Bishojō: Despite being male, Gai is the prettiest and most feminine character in Bleach: Rising Phoenix. Hands down. *Bifractured Weapon: Ateishi Setsura again, which splits Kūkūten Tenshitō Kōshinhōō into a BFS and a shield. *Born Winner: Not just a hybrid of two of the most powerful races, but the Ultimate Life-form, possessing psychic powers, and has the Envoy of Destruction sealed inside of him. Eyup, being Gai has it's perks. *Broken Bird: A male example, especially after the events of the climax of Part II. *Butt Monkey: Not to the extent of Haruko, but he is often the butt of jokes. *Byronic Hero: Gai has prioritized his anger over the good of Soul Society on more than one occasion, most notably in his fights with Chira and not giving a damn about the apocalyptic ramifications of Masato's plan; Gai just wanted to kick his ass where everyone could see it. *Calling the Old Man Out: Gai's entire reason for being the main character of Part V, acting in its events and generally giving a damn is because he wants to kick his dear old daddy's arse. Which he does. *Calling Your Attacks: "Shining...Onslaught!", "Full Throttle. Shining Onslaught." *Can Not Spit It Out: Gai is convinced that everyone can read his motives like a book, so he never bothers to display much emotion or explain himself. So no one has any idea what he's thinking. *Catch Phrase/By the Power of Greyskull: "Yatte yaruze, Zan name here!" **The finales of Rising Phoenix, We'll Never Fight Alone and Shining Requiem move this up to World of Cardboard Speech- once the villain's declared their motives, Gai merely utters his catch phrase and the asskickings begin. *Character Development: In Part IV-V, Gai sees more character development than any other character in the series; more specifically, he finishes off the trip from anti-hero to messiah. More specifically, he goes from being slightly emo (the prequel) to being a complete and utter asshole (Part I) to being a Tsundere (Part II-IV) to being a generally nice but still fairly blunt and sometimes sarcastic guy (End of Part IV-Part V). Overall, he becomes much, much more likable as the series goes on. *Character Tics: Flicking his left wrist in the air during battles. Plus clicking his tongue when he's annoyed. *The Chew Toy: Being Gai is woe. *Chick Magnet: Hizashi, Yuuki, Gekkou, Kurenai, Terios and Nika are in love with him. *Combat Tropes **Absurdly Sharp Blade: Byakuya Senmetsuken. **Attack Reflector: Kyōkeizenga. **Beam Spam: Oku Getsuga and Oku Keizenga. In Kagirinai's words, "Spam. Forever." **Light 'Em Up: His element, which has some flamelike imagery; contrasting with his whole Dark is Not Evil look and motif. **Explosive Overclocking: Gai's version of Full Throttle: Shining Onslaught. Hell, it kills him briefly in the climax of Part II. **Frickin' Laser Beams: At some point, Gai's Zan theme made his Sword Beams make the transition from feathers to kind of laser-looking. **Lightning Bruiser: And how. **Ramming Always Works: Ryūki no Teika. **Spam Attack: Kanki Tenshōku, the follow-up from Byakuya Senmetsuken. **Spin Attack: Gai has been known to keep Shining Onslaught upon his blade and spin around at hypersonic speeds, causing the Shining Onslaught to rapidly expand, essentially unleashing an Absurdly Sharp Blade/Sword Beam hybrid which cuts down everything. This attack has not been named yet. **Super Speed: His Shikai grants him speed comparable to the speed of sound. His Bankai, moreso. **Super Strength: Same as above. **Sword Beam: Shining Onslaught. When you think of it, this is all Kōshinhōō's ability does. **Wave Motion Gun: Full Throttle: Shining Onslaught. Interestingly, the ability originated as a Sword Beam which Took a Level in Badass to Beyond the Impossible levels. *Cosmic Plaything: The universe (and Nika) is conspiring against Gai. *Covert Pervert: In the obligatory Beach Chapter, Gai ogles Kurenai in a revealing swimsuit, drooling and all. Of course, Gai denies it in true Tsundere fashion. *Dandere: Usually quiet, but loves talking to people he's grown fond of. *Dark is Not Evil: Gai's entire motif. The costumes he wears for most of the story are almost completely black and adorned with things you'd usually see on villains (like spikes). Not to mention his Meaningful Title, "Destroyer of Worlds"...Though dark also isn't very nice for most of Rising Phoenix. **Good Is Not Nice: Saves no-one the snark, and he's a ruthless fighter and killer to anyone who's not his friend. Plus he doesn't give a damn about what's threatening Soul Society this week unless it threatens his friends or it pertains to him. *David Versus Goliath: All of his fights, but especially the ones against Soul King Mitsuru and Kazuma Nagareboshi. Played with, as Gai's not too weak himself, but his foes are always far more powerful than him. *Deadpan Snarker: "It's like a goddamn chain reaction." *Defeating the Undefeatable: He's made an art of it. *Determinator: Besides the trillion times he gets back up, battered and bloody (like a zombie), by pure force of will, he channeled a power even stronger than then Seikyo to eat it up (like a huge mouth), because he wanted to finish off Masato himself. *Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Gai vs. Kazuma. With a touch of Breaking the Game Breaker and Defeating the Undefeatable. This fight alone cemented Gai's badassery, if nothing else did. This could also also count as a Crowning Moment of Awesome for both of them, as Kazuma was gravely injured and slowly dying from a terminal illness and still managed to utterly kick the crap out of Gai in his Superpowered Evil Side, and Gai managed to achieve the impossible and barely win against the strongest character in Rising Phoenix. *Dropped a Bridget on Him: Averted. Despite his looks, nobody has ever mistaken Gai for a female. *Dude Looks like a Lady: And HOW! *Emo Teen: A little. *Even the Guys Want Him: And how. He's a canonical Memetic Sex God. Almost, if not every single male (and female) in Rising Phoenix has commented on or thought about how attractive he is, and a good percentage of them have actually developed crushes on him. *Eye Scream: In Part II, courtesy of Yuuki. Gets restored when he gains Kōshinhōō. *Fag Stag: Gunha is his only heterosexual male friend. *Failure Hero: For the protagonist, Gai sure does lose a lot. Seriously, any spectacular achievement is mitigated by an even worse failure. At least until Part V. *Fantastic Arousal: Gai gets incredibly flustered whenever someone touches his Idiot Hair. Both Hizashi and Mitsuru have used this to their advantage, and Nika messes with it whenever she wants Gai to do something. *Fatal Flaw: Gai has a noted habit of keeping secrets in a misguided attempt to not worry the people closest to him. Whenever he tells someone, "N-Nothing. It's nothing." Something is most definitely wrong. *Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: An extremely feminine guy who has his own mixed-gender harem, often gets into fetishic situations, and much more I can't bother to add. *Form Fitting Wardrobe: From Part II onwards, again. *Fragile Speedster: In "A Certain Unlucky Person", before graduating to Lightning Bruiser in the end of Part II of Rising Phoenix. His revival in Part III takes this step further and makes him a borderline Game Breaker. *Full Potential Upgrade: Kōshinhōō. *Game Breaker: Kōshinhōō, again. It makes reality warping look like Getsuga Tenshō in comparison. *Generation Xerox: Subverted. He has more in common with the previous Soul King, Kazuma Nagareboshi, than he has with his own deadbeat dad. Masato even points this out. *Genius Bruiser: He's no rocket scientist, but he's not nearly as fence-post dumb as other shounen protagonists. Not. Even. Close. While he fails at anything education related, he likes to read and write quite a bit, and is quite capable of using common sense and working things out on his own when he can't just Shining Onslaught his problem. H-P *Hair Decorations: Two clips in his hair, before Part II anyways. *Hair Trigger Temper: A little. Thank god he cools down so easily. *Hartman Hips: Yes. *Hates Being Touched: Not that Isshōmaru Ureshii seems to give a damn. *Hell Bent for Leather: Gai's outfit from Part II onwards. *Hello Nurse: Gai is immensely attractive to anyone he meets. It's funny because he's a guy. *The Heart: Despite his attempts to stay calm and collected and keep away from people, Gai's inner kind heart prevents the rest of his loved ones from killing each other. Repeatedly. *The Hero: A unique case. **Hero with an F in Good: At first. He improves it to a B+ over time. *Heroic Bastard *Heroic BSOD: Goes through them quite a bit throughout Rising Phoenix. The most notable case is when he loses to Chira the third time, and Masato rubs his loss in his face. *Heroic Willpower: Best evidenced during his fight with Arazomekanki. *Heterosexual Life Partners: With Gunha. Who sadly, becomes more and more out of focus as the series continues. Later on, he develops this dynamic with Mitsuru. It's easy to question the sexuality of Mitsuru, as unlike Gai's bisexuality, nothing is said about Mitsuru's preferences. So Ho Yay, then. *Ho Yay: With Mitsuru. In spades. *I Didn't Tell You Because You'd Be Unhappy: The reason why he keeps secrets. *I Just Want To Be Badass: In Part IV, Gai just wants to become good enough for people to acknowledge him and not think he's powerful only because of his weapon. In typical fashion, the trope gets very nastily deconstructed before he takes over nine thousand levels in it. *I Work Alone: This is how he started out, but he gradually softens up over the course of Rising Phoenix, before discarding this attitude entirely in Part II. In his defense, though, he was a lot better than the rest of his friends back then, having prior experience. *Infinity Plus One Sword: Kōshinhōō. It is quite easily the most powerful Zan in Rising Phoenix, with maybe Kazuma's Kotoamatsukami being able to match it in sheer damage output. *Jerkass: Comes off as this, but see Tsundere. **Jerkass Façade: Towards the clone Nika an extent, although it may have to do with the fact that the woman he's grown so fond of refuses to call him anything but his full name for a long time. He even threw away her cookies. *Kid with the Leash: Gai is this to Nika. *Kuudere: His personality. *Lack of Empathy: Disturbingly often for the main character. *Lady of War: Despite being male, Gai very much fights like one. *Law of Chromatic Superiority: What is it with Gai and white weapons and armour? *Living Emotional Crutch: Gai plays this to ensure that Nika, Mitsuru, Yuuki, Hizashi, Kagirinai, and most of the other cast from killing each other. *Long Haired Pretty Boy: From Part II onwards. *Magnetic Hero: It's only natural, considering how freaking good looking and powerful he is. Who wouldn't want to be Gai's friend? Masato even notes that Gai has an uncanny ability to bring out the best in people. **Weirdness Magnet: Gai can't help but attract people who, most of the time, aren't right in the head. *Marty Stu/Mary Sue: Averted so hard. Despite being the Author Avatar, Gai is a likeable character and while he displays several Sue-ish traits, the universe is conspiring against him, he frequently gets trolled by Nika, and he has several fatal flaws. Not to mention the whole Face Heel Turn thing. *Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Feminine Boy to Hizashi, ironically. While Hizashi isn't manly at all, Gai's just...girlier. *Memetic Sex God: In universe. And out, apparantly. *Mega Manning: Anki. Later, retconned into a generic ability of his Seishin heritage. *Mr./Ms. Fanservice: With his appearance, he mostly likely counts for the latter than the former. **Mr. Fanservice: Gai. Let's see here. Highly feminine looks? Check. Sexy body build? Check. Brooding? Check. Is a Tsundere? Check. Large population of in-universe fanboys and fangirls? Hoo boy, big check. *Nice Guy: Gai, after his Character Development, becomes a much nicer person- though when he's irritated he can still be rather frightening, so he's a mellow Type B Tsundere. *Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A bisexual trap Mototsu-Seishin hybrid housing an ancient spirit bent on genocide of him. In Part V, he even becomes the new Soul King very briefly, which brought a whole new set of powers. *No Kill like an Overkill: Kūkūten Tenshitō Kōshinhōō's power, which is only available through All Your Powers Combined, is to essentially amplify each of Gai's strikes, even his weakest attacks through linking all of Suigetsu and Kakusei's power and abilities with Kōshinhōō, combining all three to deal, essentially a crapton of damage, thus turning each and every one of his attacks into this. *Nominal Hero: While every protagonist in Rising Phoenix could count as this, Gai is the most notable example, along with Nika. The only thing that's keeping him on the side of good is his ties to his friends, boredom, and just being plain old pissed off at most of the antagonists. Until Part V. *Not Good With People: When he first met Hizashi, he groped her chest. When she kicked him through a wall, he had no idea what he did. *Odd Friendship: It's a wonder why he puts up with Nika. Ever more so that Nika regards Gai as her only friend. *Only Sane Man: On occasions. He's this in regards to everyone else's antics, but Hizashi is his own only sane man when they're together. *Oedipus Complex: Let's see, Gai wants to kill his father. And he sees the woman he meets on the street as a mother/big sister figure, before he falls in love with her; then they get intimate frequently. It should be noted, that this woman is essentially a clone of his mother, and Gai loves her a helluva lot more than his other love interests. Visually Gai and Kurenai both strongly resemble each other: they'd be identical if not for the whole gender difference, which upgrades this to Screw Yourself. *Only Sane Man: Brilliantly pointed out in his World of Cardboard Speech. *Opposites Attract: With Hizashi. Also, with Nika in a platonic sense. Or not. *The Paragon: If you get preached to or defeated by him, chances are high you'll become quite heroic somewhere down the road. *Parental Incest/Big Screwed Up Family: What the FUCK is wrong with the Nagareboshi family? Gai almost gets it on with both of his parents. It's more explicit with his mother. Of course, all of them didn't know what their relationship was at the time. *Person of Mass Destruction: Gai, in Anteishi Setsura. Holy crap. He's capable of feats such as instantly melting the polar caps, halting the rotation of the globe, and playing continental pinball with a thought. Luckily, he's only used it once. *Physical God: Again, in Anteishi Setsura. *Pintsized Powerhouse: At 159 centimeters tall, Gai is one of the shortest characters in Rising Phoenix, in fact the only person shorter than him is Token Loli Agito. Yet, he has some serious Charles Atlas Superpower going on for him. *Poor Communication Kills: See Fatal Flaw. *Punch Clock Hero: Gai doesn't give two damns about the horror threatening Soul Society this week. If he doesn't know you, don't think you're being saved. Of course, to those he knows, he will not give up until they're safe. There's no exceptions to this. Q-V *The Rainman/Bunny Ears Lawyer: See Ambiguous Disorder. Gai is VERY good with machines, and he's sure as hell one epic fighter, so people tend to put up with his crap. *Red Left Hand: His left arm is the Infernox Core, and he turns it into a giant demonic claw for close combat at times. *Red Oni, Blue Oni: Calm and collected Gai is the Blue Oni to Hot Blooded Idiot Hero Gunha. Meanwhile, Gai is the Red Oni to the even calmer and slightly lazy Mitsuru. Interestingly, Gai is the Blue Oni to Kagirinai, who is his Aloof Big Brother. This is probably due to Kagirinai being a Leeroy Jenkins Large Ham who's fond of Spam Attacks. *Rapunzel Hair: Gai's ankle length hair, fluttering gracefully in the wind...Wait, that doesn't sound right. *Scarf of Asskicking: His outfit from Part II onwards. Homage to Kamen Rider 1 and Double. *Signature Move: "Shining...Onslaught!" *Sir Swears-a-Lot: A milder version. In fact, one-fourth of his dialogue is "dammit" or "shit", and even a few F-bombs. Post-Time Skip, Gai has cleaned up his speech pattern a lot and no longer talks like a violent delinquent; Kurenai coached him on it. (He backslides occasionally and it's adorable.) *Sliding Scale of Beauty: Gai's on Divine-level. *So Beautiful, It's A Curse: Gai's beauty tends to bring out irresistible urges in anyone around him; in fact, he hasn't had real friends because people only see his beauty, not the person inside until he meets Hizashi. *The Sociopath: Subverted/played around with/deconstructed/possibly inverted. Gai has shown his sociopathic tendencies, ranging from his constant irritability, annoyance, impatience, and aggression towards nearly everyone, his obvious irritation with being bored, and that he seems to have no problem with lying or cheating. In addition, he occasionally doesn't really display empathy for most people, However, he clearly cares for his friends and loved ones, plus displays several other positive traits which exclude him from this position. *Spotlight-Stealing Squad: You wouldn't think he'd qualify for this, seeing as how he's the main character. However, in Second Rising, where Kachihi Amagase, his son, and Fumiko Orikasa are the protagonists, Gai essentially becomes this. This is particularly obvious in Part II, where Gai essentially takes on the Big Bad all on his own while Kachihi can do little more than watch. Since the two stories happen in the same universe, this can't really be avoided. *The Stoic: What Gai tries to be. Fairly, he's outdone by none in most situations, save Kazuma, who's even higher on the scale. One small smile on his lips speaks volumes. **Not So Stoic: Also a prominent part of his nature, as seen slowly emerging throught Rising Phoenix. *Stupid Sexy Flanders/Third Person Seductress: So...pretty... *Super Prototype: Gai is the result of the brightest minds of the Seishin race and Kazuma collaborating; thus, he is faster, stronger, and much more resiliant than any other Mototsu- in fact, he was the first one ever created. In addition, he has several little bells and whistles that the others don't- such as psychic powers, the Envoy, and Anki. As Kazuma stated, "As you can see, he is too awesome, but with more time and funding we can achieve desired levels of mediocrity." *Tall, Dark and Bishoujō: In Part II onward. A male example. *Team Mom: With varying levels of success. He even tries to makes sure that Gunha eats properly, much to the latter's annoyance. *Technical Virgin: Although Gai frequently has sex with Mitsuru, Gai never has genital-genital intercourse yet. Nika, of course continually mocks him for this. *Technicolor Eyes: Magenta within blue. *They're Called Personal Issues For A Reason: Once he learns of Mitsuru's past, he makes a point about not prying into the whys and wherefores. This is not due to his usual coldness, but because he knows (from personal experience) that some things are best left kept secrets. Plus, asking Yuuki (and grabbing ahold of the Idiot Ball) about her Orphanage of Fear ended up with him getting stabbed. *Title Drop: Kōshinhōō means 'Rising Phoenix'. *Tragic Hero: Gai in a nutshell, when one looks back and thinks about it. Every time things begin to go well for him, it turns into a train wreck. And it doesn't help that almost nobody (except Masato, who is using their similarities to manipulate him into doing his bidding) understands how he feels inside. *Tragic Keepsake: Nika's Scarlet Core. *Tranquil Fury: Lampshaded by Nika during Gai's final battle with Masato. "Wind blowing...against Gai Nagareboshi's lovely hair...Gai Nagareboshi doesn't look too happy, does he~?" *Tsundere: Gai is a mixed case. The instances vary from subtle to straight, often pairing with Heroic BSOD for added "fun". In regards to people (his loved ones), he's usually a soft-spoken type B with dashes of type A, though after he gets to know someone for a while, he drops all tsundereness altogether, though traces show up from time to time. *Uh-Oh Eyes: Take heed in this warning, as Gai's unique eyes also signify how much immediate danger you are in: **Hellish Pupils: Be prepared to lose a limb or two. **Eyes of Gold: If you value your life, stop moving and play dead. **Blank White Eyes: When he's really pissed. Seeing him should be taken with the utmost seriousness if you want to live. *Uncanny Family Resemblance: Gai is pretty much his mother with brown hair, no breasts and male genitalia. Interesting, he's also his father without a flamboyant dress sense. *Understatement: "This is going to hurt a little." Right before Beam Spamming Full Throttle: Shining Onslaught at Arazomekanki. *Unholy Holy Sword: In a shocking twist, it's revealed that Kōshinhōō was formed at the moment that Masato lost himself in darkness; being Masato's true Zanpakutō and it only materialized through Gai's Infernox Core because he and Masato's souls are identical, being revealed to be a power generator that Masato planned to use as the instrument of his revenge against the universe. It so happens to run on people's hatred and pain, which presents some Fridge Brilliance- Gai's Zanpakutō attacks are much more powerful when he's pissed off. *This Is Unforgivable: He shouts it at Arazomekanki and Shichitenhakki at the end of Part II, before unleashing his Bankai. However, he eventually forgives the former. In Part V, he screams it at Masato after Nika performs her Heroic Sacrafice to save Gai from him. Cue Masato setting a new standard for the 'Oh Crap' face and a swift and brutal curbstomp battle in Gai's favour. *Unskilled, but Strong: Gai's first three fights were based more on getting a single hit on his foes, that his inhuman strength would turn into a devastating, one-hit KO, than actual combat ability. When he starts to learn techniques, however... **Boring, but Practical: Gai doesn't have the kind of advanced abilities or fighting styles that many of his allies and enemies have, and while he has his awesome moments, strictly speaking he's just punching, kicking, slashing, and flinging Sword Beams at his foes. However, this is precisely what Kazuma said is the most fearsome force in existence. ***Awesome, yet (Im)Practical: A Running Gag is that Kōshinhōō's power is "BLOWING STUFF UP!". It shows, through it's over-the-top flashy attacks and shininess. *Unstoppable Rage: Subverted. Gai's rage is very stoppable and his Super Powered Evil Side is a pushover by Part III onwards (albeit a freaking scary one) compared to his Anteishi Setsura. *Unwanted Harem: Nika, Gekkou, Hizashi, Yuuki, Mitsuru, Kurenai, and Yahiro are certainly interested in him. For the record, he goes for a Tenchi Solution with Mitsuru, Hizashi, and Kurenai, but it's rather clear that he's chosen Kurenai. *Viewer Gender Confusion: Gai acts and sounds like a woman, looks more bishōjo than any other girl in Rising Phoenix, mostly dresses in Miko outfits in Part IV and feminine-looking clothing most other times. But, he's a guy. W-Z *Walking the Earth: At the end of Part V. *World of Cardboard Speech: To Masato in the finale of Rising Phoenix. "I'll be the first to admit that I got into doing the hero business for all the wrong reasons, but none of that matters now. You're a threat to the entire Soul Society, not just me and my friends. But like it or not, you're still MY responsibility. Because I'm the only one here who's willing to be responsible; the only one with a shred of sanity. You may not be out to destroy the Soul Society, but living under the heel of a walking villain cliché like you will destroy its soul. If I don't beat you here and now, then soon this screwed-up nonsensical world won't exist anymore. There won't be any place left for people like us. So, in summary, it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Anyway, enough with the speeches. Let's get down to brass tacks. Yatte yaruze, Gaikaōtori!" He then delivers a more heart-warming one to Nika at the end of Shining Requiem. *Wrong Turn At Albuquerque: Gai ends up in Mexico after the climax of Part V.'' "¡Vuelve aquí, travesti! Usted nos debe dinero!"'' "Dios mio." (Translation: "Get back here, crossdresser! You owe us money!" "Uh-oh.") *Warrior Therapist: In some ways, it's his modus operandi. Notable victims include Nika, Mitsuru (twice: The first time began the conversion from Ax Crazy to Byronic Hero, the second finished the job), Kagirinai, and Kazuma. *Weapon of Choice **Infinity Minus One Sword: Kōshinhōō, which covers... ***Absurdly Sharp Blade: It can slice through anything in the physical plane. ***Audible Sharpness ***BFS ***Blade Across The Shoulder ***Clean Cut: Not as impressive as Raitsubaki, but still. ***Companion Cube ****Cargo Ship: Joked at. ***Evil Weapon: If the grip's anything to go by... ***Flaming Sword/Hot Blade ***Heroes Prefer Swords ***It Runs on Nonsensoleum/Rule Of Cool: It's a Zanpakutō with an engine inside of it, that Gai revs up and ignites using its bike-like grip to fire his Sword Beams. ***It Was a Gift/Ancestral Weapon: A memeto from Masato before he went insane. **Infinity Plus One Sword: Gaikaōtori. ***Absurdly Sharp Blade: To the point that it can tear through dimensions. ***Audible Sharpness ***BFS: It's three times bigger than Gai, and brandished with only one arm. ***Clean Cut ***Clingy MacGuffin ***Dismantled MacGuffin: The sword's true form and power is only awakened if the dormant blade and the Infernox Core are brought together. ****Sealed Badass in a Can: Kazuma voluntarily sealed three fourths of his power into Gaikaōtori because he realized he had grown too powerful. ***Forged by the Gods ***It Was a Gift: Originally belonged to Kazuma. ***Laser Blade: Red streaks of energy extend from the blade when Gai hits his foes. ***Loyal Phlebotinum ***Morph Weapon: See below. ***Swiss Army Weapon: Can be a sword, a lance, or even a scythe in its true form. ***Sword of Plot Advancement: Masato ends up getting it first. Chira claims the incomplete version before his final fight with Gai. Gai finally obtains it after defeating Chira, but doesn't use it until his last battle with Masato. *What Beautiful Eyes: At least Mitsuru and Yuuki seem to think so. Hell, the latter even kept one. *When All You Have is A Hammer: Full Throttle: Shining Onslaught becomes this as of Part III. Reality warping Tenjōgekido? Full Throttle her. Being that nearly destroys all of existence just by being there? Full Throttle it. Deadbeat dad? Full Throttle him. There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Full Throttle: Shining Onslaught. Granted, when the attack tears open an abyss that sucks the foe into it, that's one hell of a hammer to swing around. *White Knighting: More a part of his personality than an attempt to get in people's good books, but Gai does have the tendency to form relationships with people whom he thinks need his support, and then he usually ends up being more of a caretaker than a friend on equal footing. This comes back to bite him when Gunha fails to challenge his plans to stop Masato, simply because he wasn't used to questioning his decisions; it's also the one thing about him that Mitsuru isn't happy with. *Wimpification: An in-universe example. After he and Mitsuru become a couple, Gai becomes a whiny, clingy teary-eyed moeblob, needing Mitsuru to help him with damn near everything while moaning like a whore under him, while he's usually one of the most stoic and strong-willed characters of Rising Phoenix. Gai even realizes this, as does Mitsuru, who tries to get him to act like he once did. *You Are Not Alone: A major part of his growth as a character is realizing this. Happens more directly in the peniultimate chapter after Nika performs a Heroic Sacrifice to allow him to use Anteishi Setsura against Masato, only for Gai to find out quickly that he's literally fighting alongside Nika's spirit. Even though he doesn't know it, Nika never leaves him. Tropes Associated with Gai in Sealed Scarlet, Corrupt Black A-G *The Ace: Arata sees him as this. As time goes on, this becomes a Broken Pedestal. *Action Mom: *snickers* *Almighty Janitor: Gai's given no respect, even by Kazuma and later the Shinto Goddess Izanami. He is more powerful than either, killing Izanami and Izanagi combined in a Single Stroke Battle after he gets his powers back. Keep in mind that they are GODS. *Arch-Enemy: Akane and Kaede treat him as this. Initially, Gai doesn't notice these a lot even though Kaede de-powered him; he eventually clues in, culminating in his final battle after he regains his powers and inverse Hannibal Lecture against Kaede. *Artificial Limbs: As usual, Gai's left arm is actually the Infernox Core, and also the future body of the Envoy of Destruction replacing the arm Yuuki cut off. In the sequel, he loses his OTHER arm by overloading it with spiritual power and making it explode while punching Kaede in the face. Zakura builds him a new one from the Proto Reisōbi. *Badass: Because it needs repeating. Also considered one in-universe. "So Gai beat you that time. Whoop-de-fuckin'-doo. Gai beats everybody!" -Hizashi, to Gunha **Badass Normal: In the prologue, Kaede hits Gai with her Reverse Soul Technique, depriving him of his spiritual powers, his psychic powers, the Infernox Core (and thus, his left arm and eye), and his Envoy of Destruction. However, he retains his skill, though he can barely fight with such a drastic power loss. **Handicapped Badass: That's right, his left arm and eye stopped working... **Badass Abnormal: ... But his powers return to him on occasions. *Bigger Stick: Gaikaōtori, his Zanpakutō, being totally superior to any other spiritual weapon save perhaps Kotoamatsukami and Marishaten. At least until he gets de-powered. *Brilliant, but Lazy: Learning every technique he has came fairly easy to Gai. However, due to his lack of focus and discipline, it seems as if the lessons he learn bounce right off him. *Bring It: Gai's response to having a god the size of a planet send down his mountainous finger down to crush him. He wins by punching his finger so hard it causes a chain reaction, destroying the god. All while Akane observes, remarking, "Oh, hell no…I am not going to get in that guy's way." *Brought Down To Normal: Thanks to Kaede's Reverse Soul Technique. **Brought Down to Badass: Gai is terrifyingly strong for someone who's supposed to have been de-powered; as shown when he takes down an entire division in the Nagareboshi/Chokushi Clan war with quick thinking and natural strength and speed. *Catchphrase: "Let's make a show of this!" Inherited from Nika. *The Comically Serious: Gai's not usually a 'jokey' person, though due to being de-powered and being able to relax, he's able to do "human" things (like admitting he modified Arata's Zanpakutō into Hakuryūtei because he thought it'd look cool), which causes Arata to flip out ("This isn't a sports car or something!") and makes Mitsuru start laughing. *Despair Event Horizon: Kurenai's death shatters his idealistic self, which ultimately triggers his descent into becoming the Dark Messiah for the corrupt Gotei 13. *Famed In-Story: Known as the "legendary hero from thirty years ago". *Feather Motif: It's back! His costume and his sword summoning now involve copious amounts of feathers- this symbolizes a connection to the divine. *Foreshadowing: One of Gai's dislikes is dragons. Not only does this symbolize his less than stellar relationship with his older brother and the friction he and Zakura have between each other at first, the Big Bad is the Dragon Tenjōgekido and seeing her when he was a kid cause the phobia in the first place. H-P *Hates Being Touched: Not as bad now; Gai doesn't mind it if he's on good terms with people such as Mitsuru or Kurenai, but if not, contact weirds him out. *Heroic BSOD: Seeing Kurenai die caused Gai to have this. *Hero of Another Story *His Quirk Will Live Through Me: See Catchphrase. *Hot Mom: Technically. *Ice Queen: A gender-flipped version, as usual. *Idiot Hero: As usual; though it's played with, in the sole chapter that he and Mitsuru are fighting together, since Gai insists on killing things whenever Mitsuru tries to think. Suicidal recklessness aside, Gai's already done plenty of "philosophical shit" in Rising Phoenix; while Mitsuru is trying to figure out Kaede's motives. Gai bluntly tells him that motives are irrelevant, Kaede needs to go down because she's clearly in the wrong. *Improbable Age: Keep in mind that Gai is 21 physically and mentally- not to mention 7 emotionally. He designed the hyper-advanced Pseudo-Fullbring, Starlight that he ends up wielding. However, it's justified: he's good with machines for years and has talent as a designer. *The Juggernaut: Once he gets his powers back, let's just say that getting in his way isn't a very good idea... *Lightning Bruiser: Ironically, Gai still, even after he's been de-powered. He's extremely fast, he can take it and dish it out pretty good thanks to a durable body and hideously powerful beam-saber. Just like before, though now it's lessened somewhat. *Loony Friends Improve Your Personality: Subverted. Nika is one of the reasons why Gai is pissed off all the time; and irking him gives the troll a wide berth. However, despite all this, the two look out for each other. **Can't Stand Them, Can't Live Without Them: Gai really does like Nika...He just acts like a type A Tsundere to her because she, well, really does piss him off- but over time, he comes to enjoy her antics. *Love Hurts **Love Makes You Crazy: Watching your girl get killed by an Complete Monster Physical God can do that to you. ***Love Makes You Evil: Losing Kurenai was Gai's Start of Darkness. *The Messiah: As usual. No, really. Though...at the end of Sealed Scarlet, Corrupt Black, Gai loses his whole idealism and becomes a Dark Messiah... *Messianic Archetype: Being essentially the child of the Bleach version of God, and even temporarily dying at the end of Sealed Scarlet, Corrupt Black to "save" Soul Society from the horrors of the seals clearly paints him as one of these. *Mister Seahorse: Well... *Morality Pet: Eh, well, Arata brings out the best in Gai. *Older and Wiser: Subverted. Within the span of thirty years Gai is no more disciplined than he was as in Rising Phoenix, if not more reckless, and has spent time on the run — which has done nothing for learning how to get better. However, this doesn't stop him from wrecking the shit of everything which is foolish enough to cross his path. *Offscreen Villainy: Gai's zeal for obeying Nika's last words and destroying all sources of authority which isn't Central 46 extends to killing without remorse anyone in the employ of organizations, up to and including more or less innocent people just collecting their paychecks. This would push him up to Villain Protagonist levels, but it's never shown. Q-V *Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue oni to Zakura's red oni; but he's gained a few red traits, through spending more time with Zakura. *Running Gag: A rather morbid one. Sealed Scarlet, Corrupt Black has cemented it; Gai's Infinity Plus One Swords are always stolen by the Big Bad sooner or later. First Masato wrested control over Kōshinhōō from him in Part IV of Rising Phoenix, and in Sealed Scarlet, Corrupt Black, Kaede has deprived him of Gaikaōtori (in addition to his other powers). *Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Gai is the Manly Man to Zakura's Sensitive Guy. In an odd take on the trope, neither are very manly, especially in looks. *Shut up, Hannibal!: Gai sucks at this. "Shut up!" does not convey the proper machismo. To be fair, he somewhat makes up for this by making his opponents' defeats look easy. *Slasher Smile: Now and then. *The Sociopath: Played with regularly. Gai has all the classic signs of a sociopath: a general lack of empathy; self centered behavior; total disregard for laws; regular use of fake charm, lies and manipulation to achieve his goals; he even goes so far as to call himself one. Ultimately subverted however, since when push comes to shove Gai really does care about his loved ones and will do anything in his power to protect them. After all, it's not like he loves them or anything. *The Stoic: As usual, Gai is rather quiet. But when he gets going, he really starts going. **Large Ham/Chewing the Scenery: Always screaming every line he says when in battle. *Tragic Keepsake: Two more. Masato's diary and Kurenai's ribbon. *Tsundere: As usual, type A. Gai's confrontational, sarcastic, cynical, pragmatic when it comes to helping people he doesn't know, and can act as if he's superior to everyone else. However, towards those he loves, he's incredibly sweet. *Unknown Rival: Gai has no idea who the hell Kaede is; despite being the Big Bad. W-Z *World's Strongest Man: Hard to deny it when you can curbstomp the friggin' Soul King. Tropes associated with Gai in Second Rising A-G *Ace Custom: His Nu-Exes, which was developed from his former G-Exes and improved with his own intelligence and infused with spiritual particles, turning it into one badass sword. *All Your Powers Combined: Gai's Rising Phoenix Juggernaut Overdrive, which more or less combines all of Gai's previous Zanpakutō final forms into one hell of a Super Mode. *Anti Hero: Still a type IV. Verges on Villain Protagonist levels at times. *'BADASS': Not fighting has not stopped him from being one when he needs to be. **Badass Normal: Who needs powers? Between his fist-fights with Physical Gods or attempts to make a one-man action movie rescuing his friends, Gai is frequently more interesting to read about without powers. **Retired Badass: Retired from fighting one hundred and sixty years ago. Still awesome. *Beam Spam: The Nu-Exes uses the very same attack drones that gave Gai so much trouble one hundred and sixty years ago against Masato. *Berserk Button: Even after settling down with Mitsuru, do NOT remind him of Kurenai's death. *Bling Bling Bang: The golden armour of Rising Phoenix Juggernaut Overdrive. It's an anti-spiriton coating. So shiny though- everyone averts their eyes when he first activates it. *Combat Pragmatist: Unlike before, Gai has no qualms attacking distracted opponents, sacrificing various important armour parts, and ambushing opponents. He even takes this to the logical conclusion, using his Juggernaut Overdrive as a decoy in order to rush towards Kaede and take her out. *Cool Sword: The Nu-Exes, again. *Dude, Where's My Respect?: Gai's kicked a lot of arse and saved everyone over one hundred and sixty years. However, almost everyone treats him like crap because he doesn't fight anymore, and only Haruko is willing to listen to any ideas he has. *Flash Step: Gai finally gets access to it with his Fullbring; though now, it's explained somewhat plausibly as thin layers of armour ablating off the bodysuit to shed heat, combined with an almost insane speed, creating the impression of an afterimage. *Flawed Prototype: The Nu-Exes has some problems that have yet to be ironed out. This does not stop Gai from kicking all kinds of arse with it. H-P *Happily Married: With Mitsuru. Finally. In a subversion, despite caring for his family, after 130 + years he shows no signs of forgetting about Kurenai's death anytime soon. Very understandable, considering how he lost her. *He's Back: First one: avoiding authority and then punching Giri in the face to try and talk it out with Kiyoko. His true one is when he fights Kaede for the third time and is able to adapt to being seriously disadvantaged through his absence of fighting and blasts her through a thick fog with Shining Onslaught. *He Who Fights Monsters: His ultimate goal, starting in Second Rising, is the extermination of the Daitenshi. *Not so Different: To Kaede. Not only is Gai an psychic, but he also wants to protect his people...even if it means killing every last enemy in his path. Q-V *Sanity Slippage: More than a little after Kurenai's death. *Sociopathic Hero: Turned into this after Kurenai's death, being (arguably) heroic and disturbing in equal measure. Also, while this is ordinarily a Badass subtrope, it's done so as an utterly disturbing deconstruction. *Story Breaker Power: Kaede flat out said Gai fighting could completely wreck her plans. Thus is why she depowered him. *Supporting Protagonist: Gai fills this role; being the Big Good for the main protagonists, and the main danger to the Big Bad Triumvirate's plans. It's his interactions with the former and the latter that define their actions, and Gai's usually the one to deal with the overly powerful Big Bads. *Teen Genius: As usual, though it's here that Gai's skills shine. W-Z *Weapon of Choice: His Nu-Exes. *Wrong Genre Savvy: Rejoice! Gaillardia Nagareboshi has finally taken hold of the Smart Ball! What happens when he tries to tell his opponent that they were set up? He was shot down in the timespan of an instant. Tropes associated with Gai in Final Chapter A-G *''BADASS: By this point it goes without saying. *Big Good: The de facto one. ...Despite being the same immature brat as he's always been. H-P Q-V W-Z Tropes associated with Gai in Broken Mirror A-G *Anti Hero: Type V. *BADASS: By this point it goes without saying. Gai is hardcore. **Badass Creed: "I'll do what you want...Rest for a while, Kazuma. I will handle it, you can count on me. I won't stop! If an enemy appears...I'll terminate it." **Badass Longhair: As always. **Like a Badass out of Hell: Before Broken Mirror, Gai is killed and sent down into Hell. His response is to literally climb his way out of this hell-like underworld. The really amazing part is that Gai gets killed two more times in the story proper, and every time he dies he just comes back ''faster. The first time he climbed out of Hell took three days. The last time took a matter of moments. **Sealed Badass in a Can: With Vittoria as the can. *Big Bad: Of Broken Mirror. *Broken Pedestal: Gai, to pretty much everyone who believed in him as the "Unlosing Rising Phoenix". Nika and Gunha's reactions to The Reveal are just depressing. *Even Evil Has Standards: Gai might be crazy and willing to kill off anyone who is slightly impure. *Evil All Along: The "evil" part is debatable even though he was never a good guy—but Gai really does seem a lot more manipulative and malicious in Broken Mirror. *Fallen Hero: "You tried to take away the smiles of the children. That's enough of a reason for me to kill you! I! I am the children's hero who plays the role of Rising Phoenix! If you are trying to take their future away from them, then I will kill you here!" Gai's speech to Akane gets rather hard to read after you find out his deal in Broken Mirror, doesn't it? *Famed in Story: Gai is well-known as a legendary hero even after he went missing at the time reboot, and the reactions of who he meets differ depend on which side of the war they're on, with the protagonists viewing him as their resurrected savior, and Diavolo's group viewing him as a Fallen Hero who now works for terrorists. *Foreshadowing: When Vittoria calls him a 'noble and just hero' the moment that they first talk, he snaps at her, telling her never to call him that again. Because he isn't. *Gambit Index: Practically all the major stuff on that list applies to Gai in spades. **Batman Gambit: Gai's first fight with Gunha, who activates Auriferous Exalted Trianna against him. He's banking heavily on the fact that if he loses Gunha won't kill him because of his life link to Vittoria; which he doesn't, meaning that Gunha, the only person with enough power to stop him, can't do a damn thing. And if Gunha actually decides to put stopping him over his love, he's still counting the Hōgyoku's physical form to be distracted for a brief instant so he can kill it, thus gaining its power in one of many possible solutions to his plan. **Gambit Roulette: It seems like he's the author herself, as his plans come together a little too perfectly and rely on the independent actions of over seven people. Massively subverted. Thanks to his psychic powers, he's been able to observe every single possibility due to precognition. The reason he always seems to know what will happen is because he does. **Thanatos Gambit: How Gai's plan started. He had Kurenai kill his weakened physical body at the end of Final Chapter, which had already been life-linked to the Infernox Core that took on physical form as Vittoria later on, meaning his body would just repair itself and emerge from Vittoria whenever he wanted—meaning that he could just kick back. **Xanatos Gambit: Gai pulls a devious one (combined with a Batman Gambit) to get Vittoria to trust him and thus his plan gets underway: because Kurenai can smell Gai out, he uses the fact that he's locked away in Vittoria's soul to make Kurenai attack her, but as she's drowning, he appears to her and offers her his power to show he "cares" for her. If Gai fails in getting Vittoria to agree to accept him, he revives earlier than expected and enables him to go through with his plan, though it would take longer. If Vittoria buys it, he gains a powerful new pawn and he can corrupt her. ***Gai pulls another one that borders on Moral Event Horizon in the climax of the second arc. How did he make the Elite Guard fall into Kurenai's clutches? Freely give the location of the Guard council's meeting to the heroes by using his psychic powers to learn of the location, relaying it to Vittoria, and possessing her and seducing Gunha into doing the deed. And it ended with Gunha killing the leader who was ready to start peace talks, stripping the group from support, and making Gunha have a major mental breakdown. This causes the people of Italy to cause a commotion, basically overthrowing the government and sending the country into chaos, with the "impure" people all slaughtering each other like pigs. Just as Gai planned. **Xanatos Speed Chess: Clarissa's friendship with Vittoria was a potential boobytrap that could have violently imploded his plans. To make certain she's out of the way, he patches a request to her indirectly through using his psychic powers on a superior officer of Passione (she doesn't trust him) to get her as far away from Italy as possible, and when she does come back midway through his plot, the first thing he tries to do when he catches her chatting with Adriana is attempt to kill her—see He Knows Too Much for that. ***Uriah Gambit: Said mission to get Clarissa away from Italy involved a trip to the meteor landing site in Greece - while he wanted her job to dead-end, choking on poisonous spiritual energy or another timefuck is welcome, too. Put short, it backfired. H-P *Hannibal Lecture/"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gai cruelly delivers one to Vittoria. Subverted in that all his words are, in a sense, true. **'Gai': This body does not belong... to Vittoria Giovanna. Nothing can belong to someone like you. You can't achieve anything. You can't become anything. You can't! You just can't! Because you are nothing... You are nothingness... Because you are a blank slate, crafted for the sole purpose of giving me a new body! *Heel Face Turn: At the end. When Gai realizes that Rikuri plans to bring back Izanami by sacrificing all of Italy, that does it; he boots himself out of Vittoria's body and barely maintains an unstable copy of his old body to make his way to Rikuri and take her down by himself. *He Knows Too Much: To put it mildly/simply, Clarissa practically had Gai's whole damned plot nearly figured out...at not even a quarter of the way into the series. Naturally, Gai takes control of Vittoria, and during a battle 'accidently' blasts her with Shining Onslaught to make it look like an accident, making it seem as if Vittoria had done the deed herself, driving her further into despair so Gai can have more control over her. *Humans Are Bastards/Humans Are Special: Played with. In Broken Mirror, Gai condemns humans fleeing from Diavolo's iron fist as cowardly beings who would do nothing about their refugee leader getting kidnapped just to avoid another war. However, he also thinks that, as a being designed solely to wage war by the Soul King, he cannot change the world, but instead believes in the humans who can. In the end, he believes that Humans Are Bastards, but he also believes that they can change into the better and then change the world. In short, it comes as a Reconstruction. *Hypocrite: Whether it's lecturing Gunha on not getting over Hizashi, getting mad at Diavolo for manipulating an innocent person, or telling Vittoria not to throw temper tantrums about not getting what she wants, Gai spends most of Broken Mirror calling people out on things he has no right to call them out on. *It's All About Me: Pretty much Gai's motivation to get free and live once again—being trapped in an Artifact of Doom since the beginning of time since the universe with nobody for company will do that to you. *Jerkass Has A Point: While Gai IS the villain, there's no doubt that having to change the world and purge the corruption from human beings is very much necessary. *Kick the Dog: Pretty much everything Gai says to Vittoria in the climax of the second arc. "You're just a tool. The people you love, and the people you wish to protect…All that you've achieved…They're fake. Don't forget that." *Magnificent Bastard: Gai. Yes, really. In fact, he's already thought out his plan; but all he has to do is rest inside Vittoria's soul. He basically says, "So, here's my plan: I'll chill in Vittoria's soul, amuse myself by taking over her body and wreaking havoc now and then, and wait for you to accomplish all my goals by sending signals to Vittoria's mind. Naturally, you can't refuse, Gunha, because you're head-over-heels in love with her, and you lead the group, so it all comes into my lap. And when I feel like it, I'll free myself –by the way I lied about having to be unsealed by killing Vittoria, I only said that because I wanted her to feel like she needed my help in protecting you all and that's why she needed my power- and accomplish my goal." **Manipulative Bastard: To everyone, but especially Vittoria and Gunha. One of Gai's last tricks involves calmly generating a copy of Hizashi to try and convince Gunha that Gai is right. As a distraction while he blasts through both of them. *Nietzsche Wannabe: In Broken Mirror, Gai doesn't believe in community, and has no ideals or a moral compass beyond himself. He sometimes rants about how meaningless the world is. But while he believes that the world is worthless, he refuses to fall prey to apathy. *Mailer Daemon: This is Gai's relationship with Vittoria—by first offering her his power to fight Kurenai, he slowly worms his way into her mind by making her think he's an ally, and later on, after listening to her story and how Gunha 'hurt' her, he promises that he'll look after her as long as they're together. This actually makes her start to fall in love with him, as she trusts him completely with all sorts of secrets, personal and dangerous. Even though multiple people warn her, even Gunha, she just gets mad at him. He just plays her like a fiddle the whole time. **Sure, Let's Go With That: A sinister variation. Gai wasn't expecting Vittoria to fall in love with him—but he does work it into his plans by beginning to manipulate her emotionally. *Obfuscating Stupidity: Most certainly a possibility. Many of Gai's actions in the early arcs of Rising Phoenix consist of him only acting dumb to fool people to get what he wants. Since he seemed to become dumber as the story progressed, it's safe to say that he exaggerated his idiocy to be less suspicious. *Pet the Dog: A notable one. When Vittoria loses her soul to Proscuitto, Gai takes control of her body. Now that she's out of the way, you'd think that he'd finish his plans immediately, right? No, Gai actually saves Vittoria and lets her retake her body without a second thought. Q-V *Start of Darkness: Though he wasn't completely "good" to begin with, being an Anti-Hero and all, being sealed within the Infernox Core and the universe being reset back to the Stone Age-and subsequently seeing the corruption of mankind through its numerous wielders—is what puts Gai on the deep end and convinces him that "the world needs the Rising Phoenix once again" and he's willing to do anything to be reborn once again. Summing up his motives, "GODDAMMIT WORLD, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. I'LL REVIVE AND MAKE YOU DO IT RIGHT." *Superpowered Evil Side: What Gai's role boils down to after Vittoria first meets him. While Vittoria is pretty powerful by herself, she's not of particularly remarkable strength, but when she feels a strong enough emotional pull (usually anger), Gai feeds off of it and takes over her body. Vittoria's speed ramps up significantly, her strength increases to the point that she can shatter a skyscraper with a single punch, Vittoria gains Gai's abilities, and worst of Gai will stop at nothing short of a manual override of Vittoria's mind if he's facing down the reincarnation of somebody he hated in his life. This is entirely not good for anyone who happens to be facing Vittoria down, as she generally goes from on an even footing or slightly underperforming her foe to stomping their face in on a one-sided epic beating. W-Z *We Want Our Jerk Back: The whole "Gold Gentleman Coffee" incident; Vittoria was so weirded out that she prefers the old Tsundere Gai over the Nice Guy one. *Villain Sue: Gai to an extent. Cool and composed personality that is never fazed? Check. Well beyond every other character in terms of power? Check. Capable of falling back on backup plan after backup plan? Check. Gai never loses fights, never loses his cool, is always able to come up with an answer to anything the heroes try, and seemingly has the plot itself bent towards his every whim. Only Clarissa has genuinely been able to thwart him (by accident, rather than truly guessing his works and countering them), and he quickly gets his revenge.